Petition vs. Ronda mayor now with Comelec Manila

A petition for the recall of Ronda Mayor Esteban Sia has been forwarded by the local office of the Commission on Elections to its central office in Manila for deliberation and decision.

The petition for recall is supported by signatures of 4,261 registered voters, said Councilor Jonnah John Ungab, a member of the opposition and main petitioner of the recall.

Sia, who ran under the Lakas Party in the last May 2007 elections, won against One Cebu party’s Victoria Blanco, the matriarch of the Blanco Clan that has dominated the town’s politics for over 20 years.

Blanco’s son, the town’s third-term mayor Mariano, was elected vice mayor in the same election. The Blancos dominated the municipal council with seven members including the presiding officer, Sia only has three.

The petition was filed in Ronda Comelec office last July 9 and was transmitted last July 11.

Ungab said that the co-petitioners knew and understood what they signed and the allegations stated because it was carefully worded in Visayan.

In a copy of the petition for recall obtained by The Freeman, the petitioners pointed out that “loss of our trust and confidence” are the basis of their action. 

The petitioner claimed out that when Sia assumed office, the peace and order situation in the town worsened.

The opposition also said that the “fiscal management such as illegal cash advances, unwanted expenses and illegitimate purchases, has resulted to the detriment and prejudice of the  government and the  constituents, have become widespread and became the prevalent system in the local government.”

Sia was also accused of failing to fulfill his campaign promises, deliver basic services and maintain and keep the municipal properties and assets including the municipal ambulances and even the municipal marine sanctuary.

“In all these, respondent failed to address these problems through inaction or through his own doing,” the petition further read.

Ungab also said that 17 of the town’s 19 barangay captains signed the recall petition.

Despite all the accusations, Sia said he is confident and denied that he has weak leadership.

Any elective local official may be the subject of a recall election only once during his term of office for loss of confidence, and such should only be carried out after one year from the date of the official’s assumption to office or one year immediately preceding a regular local election.  — Garry B. Lao/BRP